25 years ago: Student killed in KU debate team crash

A van carrying nine members of the Kansas University debate squad had crashed on the previous night in Tennessee, killing one student and injuring four others. Authorities reported that David Macdonald, 20, a Fargo, N.D., junior, had been killed in the accident that had apparently been caused when the driver had swerved to avoid hitting a deer. The debate squad had been driving to Emory University in Atlanta for a tournament when the accident had occurred. In a followup article on Oct. 31, the director of the KU debate program said that Macdonald had been an outstanding student whose loss could "never be replaced." Donn Parson, KU's forensics director and professor of communications studies, was planning to fly to Tennessee where four other team members remained hospitalized with injuries from the crash.